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Numbers 13
Common English Bible
Numbers 13
Common English Bible
Leaders explore the land of Canaan
13 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, which I’m giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each a chief among them. 3 So Moses sent them out from the Paran desert according to the Lord’s command. All the men were leaders among the Israelites. 4 These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, Zaccur’s son;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, Hori’s son;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, Jephunneh’s son;
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal, Joseph’s son;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, Nun’s son;
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, Raphu’s son;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, Sodi’s son;
11 from the tribe of Joseph:
from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, Susi’s son;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, Gemalli’s son;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur, Michael’s son;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, Vophsi’s son;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel, Machi’s son.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land. Moses changed the name of Hoshea, Nun’s son, to Joshua.
17 When Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the arid southern plain and into the mountains. 18 You must inspect the land. What is it like? Are the people who live in it strong or weak, few or many? 19 Is the land in which they live good or bad? Are the towns in which they live camps or fortresses? 20 Is the land rich or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back the land’s fruit.” It was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 They went up and explored the land from the Zin desert to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the arid southern plain and entered Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of the Anakites, lived. (Hebron was built seven years before Tanis[a] in Egypt.) 23 Then they entered the Cluster[b] ravine, cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and carried it on a pole between them. They also took pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Cluster ravine because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut down from there.
Report about the land of Canaan
25 They returned from exploring the land after forty days. 26 They went directly to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Paran desert at Kadesh. They brought back a report to them and to the entire community and showed them the land’s fruit. 27 Then they gave their report: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 There are, however, powerful people who live in the land. The cities have huge fortifications. And we even saw the descendants of the Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the arid southern plain; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the mountains; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Now Caleb calmed the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of it, because we are more than able to do it.”
31 But the men who went up with him said, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we.” 32 They started a rumor about the land that they had explored, telling the Israelites, “The land that we crossed over to explore is a land that devours its residents. All the people we saw in it are huge men. 33 We saw there the Nephilim (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We saw ourselves as grasshoppers, and that’s how we appeared to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:22 Heb Zoan
- Numbers 13:23 Or cluster of grapes
Numbers 13
International Children’s Bible
Numbers 13
International Children’s Bible
The Spies Explore Canaan
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send men to explore the land of Canaan. I will give that land to the Israelites. Send one leader from each tribe.”
3 So Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. He sent the Israelite leaders out from the Desert of Paran. 4 These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gamalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the new name Joshua.)
17 Moses sent them to explore Canaan. He said, “Go through southern Canaan and then into the mountains. 18 See what the land looks like. Are the people who live there strong or weak? Are there a few or many? 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What about the towns they live in—do they have walls, or are they open like camps? 20 What about the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees there? Try to bring back some of the fruit from that land.” (It was the season for the first grapes.)
21 So they went up and explored the land. They went from the Desert of Zin all the way to Rehob by Lebo Hamath. 22 They went through the southern area to Hebron. That is where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai lived. They were the descendants of Anak. (The city of Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 In the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch of a grapevine. It had one bunch of grapes on it. They carried that branch on a pole between two of them. They also got some pomegranates and figs. 24 They call that place the Valley of Eshcol.[a] That is because the Israelites cut off the bunch of grapes there. 25 After 40 days of exploring the land, the men returned to the camp.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites at Kadesh. This was in the Desert of Paran. The men reported to them and showed everybody the fruit from the land. 27 They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is a land where much food grows! Here is some of its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are strong. Their cities are walled and large. We even saw some Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites live in the southern area. The Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the mountains. The Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan River.”
30 Then Caleb told the people near Moses to be quiet. Caleb said, “We should go up and take the land for ourselves. We can do it.”
31 But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people. They are stronger than we are.” 32 And those men gave the Israelites a bad report about the land they explored. They said, “The land would eat us up. All the people we saw are very tall. 33 We saw the Nephilim people there. (The Anakites come from the Nephilim people.) We felt like grasshoppers. And we looked like grasshoppers to them.”
Footnotes
- 13:24 Eshcol This name in Hebrew means “bunch.”
Numbers 13
New International Version
Numbers 13
New International Version
Exploring Canaan
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore(A) the land of Canaan,(B) which I am giving to the Israelites.(C) From each ancestral tribe(D) send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.(E) 4 These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;
5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(F)
7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(G)
9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore(H) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun(I) the name Joshua.)(J)
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,(K) he said, “Go up through the Negev(L) and on into the hill country.(M) 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.(N)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)(O)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin(P) as far as Rehob,(Q) toward Lebo Hamath.(R) 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,(S) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,(T) the descendants of Anak,(U) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)(V) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a](W) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates(X) and figs.(Y) 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days(Z) they returned from exploring the land.(AA)
Report on the Exploration
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh(AB) in the Desert of Paran.(AC) There they reported to them(AD) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.(AE) 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!(AF) Here is its fruit.(AG) 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.(AH) We even saw descendants of Anak(AI) there.(AJ) 29 The Amalekites(AK) live in the Negev; the Hittites,(AL) Jebusites(AM) and Amorites(AN) live in the hill country;(AO) and the Canaanites(AP) live near the sea and along the Jordan.(AQ)”
30 Then Caleb(AR) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”(AS) 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report(AT) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours(AU) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.(AV) 33 We saw the Nephilim(AW) there (the descendants of Anak(AX) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers(AY) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
International Children’s Bible (ICB) 
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